Week one featured three new teams, great attendance

Published on October 20, 2004 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


LAKE ST. LOUIS, MO --- In the United Hockey League's (UHL) 14th opening weekend, the UHL saw 53,816 fans pass through the turnstiles.

Danbury, Motor City, and Kansas City all made their league debut on Friday. Both Danbury and Motor City played to capacity crowds, while Kansas City played in front of two large crowds over the weekend earning them the top spot on the league attendance report.

Hats Off to the UHL...Several players found the net in multiples of three the first weekend of the season. Muskegon's Brant Blackned recorded a hat trick in Friday's victory over Flint. Four players tallied hat tricks on Saturday including Elmira's Jason Sessa and Rockford's J.C. Ruid. Josh Tataryn scored three goals for Port Huron, but it wasn't enough to overcome David Brosseau who scored three of his own to lead Richmond to a win over the Beacons.

One on One...Two penalty shots were awarded over the weekend and Danbury goaltender Scott Stirling was in net for both attempts. He stopped Adirondack's Bruce Gardiner on Friday, but was unable to block the penalty shot attempt by Elmira's Jason Sessa on Saturday.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Adirondack Frostbite - (0-2-0) - Debuted their new name and logo, while hosting the largest opening night crowd, (4,076), since their inaugural season ... Three-time league MVP Hugo Belanger netted his first goal of the season and first goal of the season for the Frostbite, while playing in his 300th game in an Adirondack uniform.

Danbury Trashers - (2-1-0) - Made their league debut, notching their first win in team history, defeating Adirondack 3-1. Blake Bellefeuille tallied the first goal in club history and his stick will be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame ... Bruce Richardson became the first player in club history to score a pair of goals in the same period, with his two tallies coming in the third period of Sunday's victory over Fort Wayne... John Morlang is currently on a three-game goal-scoring streak, while recording the organizations' first shorthanded goal in Saturday's, 5-2, loss to Elmira.

Elmira Jackals - (2-0-0) - Jason Sessa opened the scoring against Fort Wayne just :71 seconds into the first period on Friday night and one-upped himself, scoring :61 seconds into the game one night later against Danbury ... Sessa not only open the scoring Saturday night but added two more goals to record the teams' first hat-trick of the season ... Goaltender Greg Hewitt turned aside 74 of 78 shots, while posting a 2.00 goals against average and .949 save percentage en route to being named the Southern Sports Supply UHL Goaltender of the Week.

Flint Generals - (0-1-1) - Were defeated in their home opener by Muskegon, 6-2, on Friday as both teams combined for 309 penalty minutes ... The Generals earned their first point of the season on Saturday vs. Quad City, despite loosing 4-3 in a shootout ... Right wing Bobby Reynolds collected four assists on the weekend.

Fort Wayne Komets - (1-1-1) - Komets played three games in three nights to open the 2004-05 season ... Friday the Komets earned a point in a 3-2 shootout loss at Elmira as goaltender Kevin St. Pierre turned aside 34 of 36 Jackals shots ... The club earned their first victory of the season defeating the Frostbite, 3-1, on Saturday... Tim Krueckl notched his first goal as a professional, eventual game winner for the Komets on Saturday ... Fort Wayne ended the three-game eastern swing dropping the final game to Danbury, 5-4. Kalamazoo Wings - (1-1-0) - Kalamazoo used a two goal performance from former NHL'er Zarley Zalapski to defeat the Motor City Mechanics by the score of 4-1 in their first game of the season on Friday ... The K-Wings were defeated on Saturday by Rockford by a score of 4-2 ... Kalamazoo will travel to Flint on Friday, October 22, before returning home to host Port Huron on Saturday, October 23.

Kansas City Outlaws - (2-0-0) - The Outlaws welcomed back hockey to Kansas City, making their UHL debut defeating Missouri, 5-3 on Friday ... They continued to make an impression on nearly 10,000 fans they played to over the weekend by defeating Missouri a second time in shootout on Saturday... The club averaged 4,870 fans over the weekend topping the league attendance for the weekend.

Missouri River Otters - (0-2-0) - Mark Odut scored the first two goals of his professional career ... Matt Snesrud notched the 100th point of his professional career, with an assist, on Saturday at Kansas City ... Lars Pettersen is tied for eighth in the league with four points.

Motor City Mechanics - (0-2-0) - Made their UHL debut on Friday in front of a sellout crowd of 2,871, but were defeated in their inaugural contest to Kalamazoo 4-1 ... Blair Manning recorded the first goal in Motor City history early in the third period ... Detroit Red Wings National Anthem singer Karen Newman highlighted the opening ceremonies ... Motor City will open a two-game road trip on Saturday at Rockford and conclude the trip on Sunday in Missouri.

Muskegon Fury - (2-0-0) - The defending Colonial Cup Champions continued their impressive 19-game home winning streak (includes last post-season, preseason and regular season) ... The Fury went 5-12 (41.7%) on the power-play Friday night vs. Flint, marking a franchise record for ppg's in one game ... Brant Blackned is currently tied for the UHL lead in scoring, recording six points (3g, 3a) over the weekend ... Todd Robinson's second goal of the season made him just the ninth player in franchise history to score 100 goals in a Muskegon uniform.

Port Huron Beacons - (1-1-0) - Opened the season with a 3-2 shootout victory vs. Richmond on Friday, notching two power-play goals ... Josh Tataryn recorded a hat-trick on Saturday and the club went 3-8 on the power-play, but it was not enough as the Port Huron fell 6-5 to Richmond. Stu Dunn stopped 30 shots in the contest and a total of 63 for the weekend.

Quad City Mallards - (1-1-0) Dropped their season opener to Rockford, 8-4, but rebounded on Saturday night by defeating Flint in a shootout ... Mike Kompon recorded a pair of assists, while making his pro debut and finished the weekend with four points (1g, 3a) ... Jason Lehoux tallied a power-play goal in each of the club's two weekend contests and is currently tied for third in the league in scoring with five points (2g, 3a).

Richmond RiverDogs - (1-0-1) - David Brosseau tied a club record and notched the RiverDogs fourth all-time hat-trick on Saturday vs. Port Huron and finished the weekend with five points (4g, 1a) ... RiverDogs will conclude the current home stand on Friday night prior to hitting the road for six of their next seven games ... The club averaged 35.5 shots on goal through the weekend's contests.

Rockford IceHogs - (2-0-0) - Began the season undefeated for the first time in team history ... The IceHogs picked-up the two victories on opening weekend at the Rockford MetroCentre before nearly 10,000 fans ... J.C. Ruid earned Sher-Wood UHL Player of the Week honors, netting five goals and one assist in two games, including a hat-trick on Saturday vs. Kalamazoo ... Eight skaters registered multi-point games in the season's first two contests.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Rockford IceHogs center J.C. Ruid finished the season-opening weekend with six-points (5g, 1a) and a plus-seven rating in two games. He started the season notching two goals and one assist in Friday's victory over Western Division rival Quad City Mallards. Ruid then netted a hat trick (3g) on Saturday as the IceHogs defeated the Kalamazoo Wings 4-2. After the first weekend of play, the 29-year-old Ballston Spa, New York native leads the league in goals (5) and plus/minus rating (+7).

Other players nominated for the Sher-Wood UHL Player of the Week include: Adirondack right wing Frank Littlejohn, Danbury forward John Morlang, Elmira right wing Jason Sessa, Flint right wing Bobby Reynolds, Fort Wayne right wing Chris Grenville, Kalamazoo center Yannick Carpentier, Kansas City left wing Jason Ruff, Missouri center Lars Petterson, Motor City center Blair Manning, Muskegon left wing Brant Blackned, Port Huron left wing Josh Tataryn, Quad City left wing Jason Lehoux, and Richmond right wing David Brosseau.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK

Elmira Jackals goaltender Greg Hewitt has been named Southern Sports Supply Goaltender of the Week for the period ending Sunday, October 17, 2004 Hewitt finished the opening weekend of the season with a 2-0-0 record, a 2.00 GAA, and a .949 save percentage. In the Jackals opener against defending Tarry Cup Champion Fort Wayne Komets, Hewitt turned away 42 of 44 shots on goal including three of four in the shootout to secure his first victory of the season. On Saturday, he followed up with 32 saves on 34 shots to defeat the expansion Danbury Trashers. The 25-year-old native of London, Ontario is currently tied for the league lead with two wins and leads the league in saves (73).

Other players nominated for the Southern Sports Supply UHL Goaltender of the Week include: Adirondack's Derek Gustafson, Danbury's Scott Stirling, Flint's Marco Emond, Fort Wayne's Kevin St. Pierre, Kalamazoo's Chad Alban, Kansas City's Maxime Gingras, Missouri's Jason Tapp, Motor City's Rod Branch, Muskegon's Brent Belecki, Port Huron's Stu Dunn, Quad City's Robert Gherson, Richmond's Jeff Sanger, and Rockford's Michel Robinson.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from October 20, 2004


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